The Tale of the Two Children
by Masquerade
Summary: This is the prequel to Singing Mountain. This is the story of twin infants who were found after the Shishi Gami's death, and grew up with the mysterious power to either create life or destroy it. R&R if you loved Singing Mountain!


All Princess Mononoke characters are (c) Hayao Miyazaki & Studio Ghbli 

All my characters are (c) me, Masquerade 

**The Tale of the Two Children**

He remembered preparing to make his last words should he die... 

"SHISHI GAMI-SAMA! WE GIVE YOU BACK YOUR HEAD! TAKE IT, AND BE AT PEACE!" 

He remembered holding San's shaking body close to him as they held up the giant head of the life god and feeling the demon burns creep along their skin. 

He remembered seeing the gigantic mass of goo that was the death god looming down to get back the head that was rightfully his. 

He remembered feeling a strong force like a waterfall dropping on top of him from above... 

...and that was it... 

Then, he felt something moving in his hair. It felt like Yakuru nibbling on his hair, like he always did to wake him up in the morning. He stirred, and raised his head. His eyes were greeted by green all around him. He was lying in tall grass with San still in his arms. 

Then he remembered the land to have been reduced to a lifeless, gray wasteland! Where did a huge field of grassland come from? 

Of course! The Shishi Gami's spirit healed the land! 

He wasted no time waking up the wild girl in his arms. 

"San...San, look!" 

Her eyes blinked open a minute later, and she found herself looking into Ashitaka's smiling face. Then, she saw the long grass around her, and looked around in confusion. Ashitaka gladly helped her up to fully look around the area. The land had been recovered. 

It was the most beautiful sight to all eyes. Moro's two sons nearby, fully recovered with no wounds, seemed to be smiling at the hills around them. Yakuru was grazing on the grasses as though they were there the whole time. The gray hills Ashitaka remembered that were destroyed while the Tatara people dug for iron were now covered in long grass and dotted with saplings that would soon grow into giant trees of the Western forest. Ashitaka was smiling, while San looked rather mournful. She was glad that the forest was going to grow back, but... 

She sighed. 

"Even if the trees return, it won't be his forest anymore. The Shishi Gami is dead." 

"Never." Ashitaka comforted. "He's not dead, San. He's life itself. He's right here, trying to tell us something." He looked down at his right arm, and saw that his demon burn had healed. "That it's time for both of us to live." 

After weeks of traveling from the far reaches of the east, Ashitaka's curse was lifted, and he was free to live. 

/|\ 

"Ashitaka, you mean so much to me...but I cannot forgive the humans for what they've done..." 

"I understand. You'll go back to the forest, and I'll help Eboshi rebuild Tatara Ba. But I'll always be near. Yakuru and I will come and visit you whenever we can, alright?" 

San smiled with an agreeable nod. Her mother told her that Ashitaka wanted to share his life with her, and now San could see it for herself. 

_I would like to share my life with you too, Ashitaka..._

Sitting on the back of one of her brothers, she and the two giant wolves walked away to head for their home. Ashitaka watched them leave until they had disappeared past the hill. He smiled after them, and then turned back to his elk. 

"Let's go to Tatara Ba and see if Eboshi made it there alright." 

The elk huffed in agreement as Ashitaka grabbed a horn and hoisted himself onto Yakuru's back. Yakuru began to walk down the hill to the river below. Ashitaka could see the remains of the once flourishing city of Tatara Ba. The destroyed ruins were now covered in green of grasses, moss, and young saplings. The town would have to be built elsewhere, somewhere where the Gods would allow them to live. And when that decision was made, Ashitaka would be there to help out. 

Then, something stopped him... 

It sounded like a baby crying nearby... 

_Perhaps a newborn from the Tatara clan..._

He continued on his way until he heard a second cry... 

...and a second voice adding to it... 

Ashitaka stopped Yakuru and looked around the hill. 

_Two infants crying?_

_I think the grass is hiding them..._

Ashitaka carefully got off his elk's back and looked around. The crying was coming from his left, so he carefully walked that way, afraid he may step on a human infant. Yakuru followed behind him curiously. 

Finally, Ashitaka came to a patch of smaller grass where flowers were blooming. In the middle of the patch of short grass were two nude infant babies that looked as though they were just born. Both were crying into the sky, wet, cold, and scared. Ashitaka stood looking down at them in astonishment. 

_What are they doing here?_

_Who would just abandon them after birth?_

_They may belong to the Tatara Ba; I'll have to take them with me._

He stooped down to pick them up. 

"Don't cry, little ones. We'll take you to your parents and you'll be safe and warm again." he comforted, scooping one into his arms. 

_A boy..._

"Come along now." he cooed to the other as he picked her up. 

_...and a girl..._

_They look like twins..._

_Poor things..._

"Let's go find your mother." he proposed, holding them both carefully to him. They seemed to calm down and stop crying in his arms. They started moaning in hunger, needing milk. Ashitaka looked at Yukuru, and the elk lowered himself down on his stomach. Ashitaka didn't need to hoist himself up since his arms were full. The warrior straddled the elk's back, and Yakuru stood up carefully before continuing down the hill. 

They soon reached the ruins of Tatara Ba, where the townspeople were gathered by the ruins of the forge. They were all gathered around the injured Eboshi, the leader and mistress of the Tatara Ba people. The young woman was holding her head in her only hand, looking sorrowful and ashamed. She was muttering to herself as the women around her comforted their leader. Eboshi's faithful retainer, Gonza, stood by her protectively, and looking at the people he once commanded. 

_I'm glad there is a person like Lady Eboshi-sama who can take care of my people, but we need her more than ever now._

_How are we going to build a better town than Tatara Ba if she isn't sure how to do that herself?_

Then, chatter rose up from the townspeople as Ashitaka rode foreword on Yakuru. Eboshi raised her head to look up at the Emishi warrior, and a smile crossed her face. 

"Ashitaka..." she muttered, carefully standing up. The women immediately scolded her. 

"M'lady, no!" 

"You must sit back down, m'lady!" 

"You only have one arm! You'll lose your balance!" 

"Lady Eboshi!" 

She turned to the girls with a motherly smile. 

"I am alright. Please don't worry about me. I don't need two arms to walk." She turned back to Ashitaka and walked slowly to him. The people parted a way for the both of them to reach each other. 

"Lady Eboshi," Ashitaka greeted the noblewoman, "how are you?" 

"I will be fine." she insisted, trying not to look at the stub her right arm had become. "Ashitaka, I want to thank you and...the wolf girl...for saving myself and my people. I am so ashamed of what I had done. My greed and determination almost killed my loved ones...I don't know how to apologize." 

"That's alright." Ashitaka nodded. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. And now is not the time." Yakuru turned to the side so that Eboshi could see the infants in his arms. "I found these babies on the hill not too far from here. I think they belong to one of the townspeople." 

"Oh!" Eboshi gasped. "Oh my..." 

The people gathered around the warrior for a better look at the children. Ashitaka called out so that every townsman and woman could hear him. 

"Is anyone the mother and father of these? Twin boy and girl? Please come and reclaim your children!" 

Everyone looked at each other, but none stepped foreword. 

"Here." Eboshi offered. "Let me free one of your arms, Ashitaka. Give me one of them." Ashitaka carefully lifted the girl into Eboshi's left arm. Eboshi held the girl tightly next to her, looking down at the child's small face. The baby's eyes were shut tight, and her mouth was open, cooing slightly. Then, she burst into a screaming fit, so Eboshi bounced the child slightly in her arm. She was smiling. 

"Come here, girls." Eboshi invited the woman. "Does this little one look like someone you know?" 

The woman gathered around Eboshi, looking and admiring the baby. 

"Oh, she's so adorable..." 

"She's not mine. I can't get pregnant." 

"I can't remember any women who are due around this time..." 

"I'll bet it's Otoki's..." 

"Oh, shut up, Moki! Kohroku and I are not expecting!" 

"Do you think they came from a traveler?" 

Other women were looking at the boy in Ashitaka's arms. 

"Oh, he's beautiful..." 

"He looks kinda like Gonza..." 

"No way! He can't get a girl!" 

"I wonder who the parents could be..." 

No one came to claim the children. 

"I don't understand..." Eboshi shook her head. "Where could they have come from? They appear to have been born just now... But I'm very glad you saved them, Ashitaka. They may have starved to death if you didn't come by that way." 

"I couldn't just abandon them." Ashitaka shook his head. "I am loyal to the Shishi Gami, the giver of life, as well as the humans." 

Eboshi smiled. 

"Perhaps you will help me find these two a home in the new Tatara Ba, once it is built." 

Ashitaka looked down at the boy in his arms, who was opening his dull blue eyes. 

"Of course." 

_To be continued…_


End file.
